Aside from offering free crochet patterns to my fellow crocheters, a big focus of my blog, CrazyCoolCrochet.com, and YouTube channel, Crazy Cool Crochet , is helping crocheters earn an income from their love of all things crochet. Why keep your skills and artistry to yourself? Share it with the world! For a profit of course. LOL! No, seriously. Why not be nicely compensated for your hard work and talent? In this post, I will offer some surprising and new crochet items to sell at craft shows to make more money.
No more Ho-Hum Inventory!
If you want to make the most money possible for your crochet creations, you might need to do an overhaul of your inventory. Or at the very least, rethink your offerings and change things up! And I don’t mean just change things from YOUR usual stock. I mean change things up from the typical crochet items sold at craft shows. What’s more boring than usual ho hum hats, scarves, dishcloths and cowls? And of course doilies. Yikes! No offense if that makes up a good portion of your craft show wares. But those have been the go-to crochet items to sell at craft fairs since the dawn of time. Big yawn!
If you want to sell more, and thus make more money selling at a craft show, you need to step up your game. And NO, I don’t mean spend even more hours and use more yarn making complicated crochet garments. No, no, no! That would totally eat up any profit you might earn. And there is already very little profit to be made.
What is needed is stylish and cool crochet inventory that will surprise the craft fair crowd and draw them to your booth. You need to offer items that entice and surprise. You want people to ooh and ah and hold up your creations so passersby notice and make a beeline for your craft table!
Fresh, Stylish, Cool Crochet
Most of the crochet items I suggest here, and throughout my blog and YouTube channel, are designed specifically for those crocheters who wish to earn an income from their crochet. (Of course, my patterns are great for anyone to use, not just sellers!) This means that I deliberately design and write patterns that are fairly simple and fast to execute, yet fresh, stylish and cool. I named my crochet business Crazy Cool Crochet for a specific reason. I wanted to offer cool crochet, not my grandma’s crochet. (No offense to my guelita Concha who had a super successful crochet business for decades.)
These items will likely not be offered by other crocheters. This means customers will linger longer at your table because you are offering something new, different and exciting. If other crocheters do offer something similar, they likely will lack the little pops of surprises that these designs offer.
Crochet Baskets
While other crocheters offer baskets, these designs stand out. The round basket here sports a ring of tasteful, but interesting tassels. Notice they are very subtle, not thick or overkill. The tassels add that pop of surprise that make people stop and look. And BUY!
What adds to the more trendy design is the understated colors used. The tassels already draw interest, you don’t need loud or gaudy colors to distract from the design itself.
Also, note the cool border along the rim. Again, another pop of coolness. One hint if you decide to use this design, while I display it in my home as shown below, and does stay standing, it can cave in on itself if manhandled too much. You’ll want to display it on a craft show table with some items inside of it, like balls of yarn or a bag of potpourri. Click on photo below to view free pattern.
These rectangular crochet baskets are also different from the usual round baskets. You can display it with rolls of toilet paper to show its diversity. View solid grey basket pattern HERE. View multicolor basket HERE.
These baskets, the round and rectangular, use super chunky yarn and work up fast once you get the hang of the stitch used.
Crochet Pillows
If these crazy cool crochet color block pillow covers don’t draw crowds I don’t know what will! I created this using scraps of leftover yarn. It is super simple to make but WOW it packs a design punch!
This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission for purchases made from these links at no additional cost to you.
Since displaying crochet pillow covers can be a challenge…you can make one for display with the pillow inserted (use a cheapo $4 pillow from Walmart), and keep the ones to sell as just the covers to use up less display space. Also, if making these for craft shows, you’ll want to add a zipper for inserting and removing the pillows.
The waffle stitch pillow cover below is super easy to make is absolutely gorgeous in person. People will be drawn to this design as well!
And one more for those who want to really add something different! Again, really fast and easy but packs a design wallop!
Crochet Ponchos
It can be difficult to offer crochet clothing at craft shows because of the issue with sizing. However, offering really cool crochet ponchos can work because the sizes are generally one size fits most. It wouldn’t be too time-consuming to make some in a larger size to offer variety.
Ponchos never go out of style and if you use updated designs and colors they will sell. This first poncho below is my classic that I once sold 50 in 3 weeks! Truth be told, they were in children’s sizes and worked up super fast. If you choose trending colors they will sell fast!
Now this crochet poncho is super stylish and again, one size fits most, so it pretty much sells itself! And of course, the pattern is fast and easy!
And one more for variety. Everybody knows someone who is having a baby or has a baby and is in need of a baby gift. Well here you go. Irresistible! And do I need to say it again? Fast.Easy.
Ok, ok. One more. Gotta have something for boys. Another eye catcher. A space wars poncho! Cool eh?
Crochet Tee Shirt
Here is an example of a woman’s top that is easy to work up and easy to wear. This is another wearable that can be made in a few general sizes (small, medium and large). Use bright colors like the blue used here to draw attention. I would go so far as to suggest you wear this one to show how nice it looks on.
Crochet Accessories
You’ll want to have some smaller items for those don’t want to leave empty handed. This cool chunky necklace costs all of $1 and an hour or so to make and you can easily sell for $5. You will also want to have crochet accessories such as head bands. But use unique designs to keep the cool vibe going. And you might want to have some hats for those that are expecting to find hats on your table. Again however….COOL designs!
Use Nice but Inexpensive Yarn
In order to complete the whole stylish, new crochet designs you need to give serious consideration to the yarns you use! For some of my crochet patterns, I suggest very specific yarn for very specific reasons. The green/purple open side poncho above uses a yarn that achieves ultimate drapability. That is crucial for that design. I had someone ask if they could use a chunky yarn for that design. Uhm. No. Chunky yarn won’t drape and of course the sizing will be totally off.
Please save or share this pin to your favorite Pinterest boards:
I do take care to use and suggest easily available yarns. The only exception to that rule is the round basket with tassels above. The yarn was purchased at Hobby Lobby, however I don’t think it is always offered. Any super chunky yarn can be substituted. No need to worry about drape. LOL.
And while I do often use cheapo Walmart yarn, it would be used on items like the boys poncho that is meant for play. And for headbands and some hats that don’t require softness (unless by design).
What you don’t want to do is substitute cheapo, stiff, scratchy yarns on wearables where the drape and softness make a difference to the end product. Don’t skimp to save a dollar. On the flip side, I also rarely (never?) use expensive yarns or designer yarns. It’s all about profit margins when you’re a seller!
How to Prepare for a Craft Show
Now that you know what crochet items to sell at craft shows, learn how to set up and prepare for a craft show. Click on the photo for cool tips and suggestions to create a craft show table and booth to draw crowds!
REAL Crochet Income
While I am happy to provide tips and suggestions for earning an income the traditional way such as with craft shows, I always maintain that this is the least profitable and least efficient way to earn an income from crochet.
If you are serious about real money from crochet, please look here for my new, in-depth course:
Step by Step to SERIOUS Crochet Income
You May Also Like
